


Workaholic

by Kyeltsar



Category: Atlas Reactor
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 14:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9329222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyeltsar/pseuds/Kyeltsar
Summary: Zuki isn't a workaholic.Probably.Maybe.





	

Pup spends the vast majority of his time within the flying junkyard that Zuki calls home. Of this time, he spends the vast majority of it searching for something to chew, much to the annoyance of Zuki when she’s trying to tinker on new gadgets in her workshop and can’t find her new welding torch. After having the pleasure of listening to Zuki making her displeasure… known, to the detriment of the local surroundings, Pup tends to avoid Zuki when she gets the manic glint in her eye and metaphorically locks herself in her own workshop.

At the same time, he gets a bit worried about his favourite human. He pokes his head into the workshop, where Zuki is currently hunched over her bench.

‘C’mon… C’mon…’ Zuki bites her lip. ‘If I just connect this piece here… and then turn on the-‘

Boom.

Pup is flung back from the explosion, splatting himself against the wall before slowly sliding back down. He shakes himself, checks his servos; everything seems to be in working order, but the same probably couldn’t be said about Zuki.

He rushes in to find her slumped on the ground, completely covered in ash.

‘Arf! Woof woof!’

‘I’m alright! I’m alright! Just a little-‘ she cracks her shoulder, and they both wince at the sound, ‘Agh… Just a small one this time. No biggie.’

‘Grrrrrr…’

Zuki pouts. ‘I can’t just take a break, you know that. I need this finished by tomorrow, but it just isn’t working…’

Pup watches as she tries to pick herself back up to her feet, but the fumbling and groping at handholds doesn’t bode well for her continued health. She eventually does manage to crawl herself back to her bench, but it’s clear that she’s in no shape to continue.

‘Bark!’

Zuki turns back to look at the bot. ‘I just told you, this can’t wait. This is seriously important.’

Pup edges closer to the bench. ‘…Bark?’

‘No, my missile launcher isn’t broken.’

Pup edges closer. ‘…Bark?’

‘No, my sticky bomb supply is fine.’

…Closer. ‘…Bark?’

‘No, I’ve got enough rockets to- Hey!’

With the welding torch successfully stolen, Pup runs his way out of the workshop. He looks around, searching and searching until he leaps his way up and up to the top of the tallest junk heap he can find. He barks in triumph before dropping the welding torch into the pile.

Zuki slowly stumbles out of her room, eyes scanning for any sign of her bot or her beloved torch. ‘Hey! Damnit Pup, give that back!’

‘Bark bark bark!’

‘This isn’t funny, Pup!’

‘Bark!’

‘…But, but, my workshop! My tools! My project!’

‘Grr… Bark!’

‘Seriously? SERIOUSLY?’

‘Woof woof!’

Zuki throws her arms up into the air. ‘Alright, fine! I surrender!’ If Pup doesn’t want her to work on it, she isn’t going to be working on it. ‘So what do you want me to do then?’

‘…Woof!’

 Zuki blinks. ‘Oh. Okay. I guess I can do that.’

* * *

‘So I was working on this TOTALLY AWESOME new thing that is a complete secret don’t ask about it don’t mention it to anyone and then I maybe sort of accidentally blew up my workshop again and now Pup is refusing to hand me back my tools and I mean I know he cares about me and wants me to take it easy but ARGH I NEED TO WORK ON IT.’

‘Um.’ Helio says.

‘So then Pup was like ‘Nuh-uh you aren’t working on this today’ and I was like ‘PUP THIS ISN’T FUNNY’ and he was like GO RELAX YOU STUPID HUMAN except not really like that he wouldn’t actually say that because we’re besties and all but you get the idea!’

‘Uh.’ Helio eloquently responds.

‘So I parked my junker and I was walking around Atlas thinking ‘HMMM I WONDER WHO I COULD GO BOTHER TODAY’ and I was thinking and thinking and then suddenly it hit me! Kinda literally, one of your poster guys was throwing his posters everywhere and one of them hit me in the face so I was just walking along like usual and suddenly BLAM! HELIO IN YO FACE! And I got really annoyed before I realized, hey! I can go bother Helio!’

‘Mm.’ Helio masterfully replies.

‘So that’s why I came in here and crashed your boardroom meeting and I’m really really sorrykaythanksi’lljustleavenowbeforeImakethisworseohcrapI’vetotallymadethisworsehaven’tIOKAYBYEHELIOSEEYOUFORLUNCHONSATURDAY.’

Zuki flings herself out of the nearby window, breaking the pane of glass right next to the other pane of glass that she broke when she flung herself into the HelioCorp boardroom. The sudden blasts of wind that enter the boardroom cause papers to fly all over, and barely drowns out the sounds of the security alarms that started ringing when Zuki broke into the building.

Helio straightens out his shirt, shaking his head slightly before turning back towards the presentation that Zuki interrupted. ‘So. This is the proposed improvement to our Nanotech designs. Any thoughts?’

‘Does this, uh, happen often?’ The new Chief Marketing Officer timidly asks, still staring at the broken glass and the several hundred story drop to the ground.

‘Yes.’ The rest of Heliocorp’s executive management responds, right as the security team bursts into the room, looking around in confusion for an intruder that’s already gone.

* * *

Garrison’s barely managed to grab a swig of his beer when the pub door bursts open. A few SELF-E bots begin flashing their lights, but Garrison’s content to ignore whoever it was that just walked in here.

Until Zuki plops herself down right next to him.

‘Hey, uh, no hard feelings about the last run, right?’ She nervously laughs a little, fiddling with her hands.

Garrison just looks over with a brief smile on his face. ‘You owe me another upgrade.’

Zuki perks up. ‘Yeah, that’s cool. I’ll get on that some time.’ Even if she’s probably going to be blown up by it the next time, she loves playing with missile systems.

‘So, what brings you over ‘ere to the middle of nowhere?’ He asks, looking down at Zuki. He’s pretty sure she’s never had a proper drink in her life, especially not in one of these rundown shacks.

Zuki waves her arm about aimlessly. ‘Pup thinks I need a break. Told me to come out and relax.’

‘And your definition of relaxing is coming out to bother some old sod like me?’ He grins. ‘I’m touched.’

Zuki snorts. ‘You wish. Pup just denied me access to the workshop today cause I nearly blew myself up.’

Garrison raises an eyebrow. ‘…Nearly?’

‘…Okay, I did blow myself up, but hey, I’m good as new!’ She looks down at the cracks in her shoulderpads. ‘Probably.’

‘Right.’ He nods. ‘Probably.’

‘Anyway, Pup wants me out of my workshop to relax, or something, which is stupid, cause my workshop IS where I relax! But he kept on insisting and, well, you know how Pup is when he’s insisting on things.’

Garrison can still feel the sound blast ringing through his mind.

‘So I’m just going around bothering people I know, which, wow, that list is disappointingly small once I think about it.’

The two of them lapse into a comfortable silence as Zuki picks up a small soda from the bartender, and the two of them sip at their drinks.

‘Have you considered picking up a hobby?’ Garrison asks as he finishes his beer.

‘I have plenty of hobbies!’ Zuki holds up her fingers to count. ‘Like, uh, mechanical engineering! And upgrading Pup! That’s two!’

‘Those aren’t hobbies, Zuki. Those are job obligations.’

‘Uh…’

‘Look, find something you can do that doesn’t involve engineering at all. No malfunctioning machines, nothing to upgrade.’ He pushes himself back from the bar, waves to the bartender and starts walking. ‘I’m heading back to work now. I’ll swing by the junker some time next week. ’

Zuki frowns.

* * *

‘Am I a workaholic?’

Lockwood stares down at the targets. 0.5 cm off. He’ll have to work on it. He holsters his guns, turning to the little mechanic next to him. ‘Do you want the harsh truth or the butter coated lies topped with sugar and honey?’

Zuki sighs, bringing her hands up to her face. ‘Crap. I am a workaholic.’

He smiles. ‘What, did Pup finally decide to kick you out of your own junker?’

She shrugs. ‘He stole my tools, sooo pretty much, yeah.’

He takes a seat next to her, listening to the muffled sounds of the holographic targets resetting on the range. ‘Look, you hole yourself up in your workshop all the time without telling anyone what you’re working on, and come out three days later minus ten pounds with giant bags under your eyes and a shiny new toy to play with. When you’re awake, you spend half of your time in your workshop. So yeah, you’re a workaholic.’

Zuki looks down, her shoulders slumped. ‘I talked a bit to Garrison, at that pub he drinks at. He made me realize that I pretty much have no life.’

‘Ha!’ Lockwood laughs, ‘Says the guy who’s in his war suit 24/7? Let me guess, he went straight back to work right after?’

‘Er, yeah, I guess so-‘

‘And since you went to Garrison, you probably went to Helio as well right? He’s running his own little corp now, so you totally crashed one of his meetings again.’

‘How do you know these things?!’

‘Trade secret.’ He pats her on the shoulder. ‘Anyway, the point is that you’re a workaholic, sure, but all of us freelancers are workaholics. Comes with the job, really.’

Zuki seems a bit lost in thought. ‘So… you’re saying I should-‘

‘No more workshop today.’

‘Aww.’

**Author's Note:**

> Done for a Reddit competition under the username /u/Tornspirit. 
> 
> Only started playing Atlas Reactor like 2 days ago. I spent more time reading up on lore than writing this hahaha.


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